Ladies Man, but Not a Poacher
by Starsinger
Summary: After Kirk's demise, Uhura remembers another night in a bar not that long ago. Spoiler for new movie.


**Ladies Man, but Not a Poacher**

by Starsinger

**Inspired by Kirk's death scene, Uhura reflects on her relationship with him and Spock, and lines Jim Kirk will not cross. Honestly, Spock/Kirk relationship is a bunch of mularchy, and I will not subscribe to it. Fangirls, if you really think this is where it is headed, you're, in the words of Ron Weasely, seriously mental. Case in poing: Dr Carol Marcus, mother of Kirk's only known son, David. Don't own Star Trek, or Harry Potter for that matter. Spoilers for Into Darkness.**

Uhura's eyes locked onto Kirk's lifeless body, unable to comprehend its reality: Jim Kirk was dead. She barely registers Spock rushing past her, and Scotty working thoroughly to ensure that room didn't kill anyone else. She looked over to see security personnel arriving with a stretcher. Some irony included to realize that the man Kirk labeled as "Cupcake" was among them. She remained long enough to watch Scot finish his task and open the door to the warp core chamber. He held the door open long enough for the security team to enter and gather Jim's body in their arms. Gentler than he had shown when he chunked the Captain's body into the lifepod one year ago, he reverently set Jim on the waiting gurney. Strangely, he'd even apologized to the man when Jim's head had connected with the doorway. Jim wouldn't have cared at this point. She reached over and with far more care than she showed him in life, closed his sightless eyes.

Uhura watched as Scotty and Chekov joined the team headed for sickbay. People lined the corridor, paying their respect to what they hoped was the last victim of Khan's rampage. Uhura simply couldn't do it. She knew McCoy would perform a cursory autopsy, cause of death was pretty apparent, and declare him dead. She watched to another turbolift remembering an incident several weeks before the disastrous mission on Kibiru, when Jim Kirk had shown his true colors regarding women: He was no Poacher.

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It was the same bar where Uhura, Kirk, Pike, and Cupcake had met so many years before. Spock had promised to meet up with her later that evening when Chekov came to relieve him. Meanwhile, she sat alone. She watched Kirk saunter up to the bar. He smiled impartially at the female cadets who inevitably found him attractive and charming. He turned around looking for women who weren't cadets for his charm. He settled on Uhura.

Kirk smiled as he approached, "May I join you?"

"Sure," Uhura replied. "Not finding anyone to your taste."

"Yes," he said with a rueful smile, "but she's taken." Uhura blushed. "Spock joining you later?"

"He said he would," she said with a small grin.

"Well, I'll keep you company," Jim, as he insisted she called him, was charming, funny, but not flirtatious. He even felt free to admire the women swirling around him. "Great thing about being here with a friend, you're not going to get mad if I look at other women."

This elicited a genuine laugh, "That's not my style." She looked around for a woman that would fit Jim's personality. Her eyes landed on a petite blonde who just entered. Uhura tilted her head toward the other woman, "What about her? She's pretty."

Kirk eyed the woman, "That's Dr Carol Marcus. Admiral Marcus' daughter and well out of my league. She's beautiful, smart, and I'm not willing to cross my boss."

"You rhymed!" Uhura couldn't help but laugh again. Suddenly, a looming cadet came up behind Jim. She knew the kind, tall, dark, impressed with himself, and not worth the uniform he hoped to wear. Jim sensed him as well. Drink in his hand inches from his mouth. The cadet didn't know who any of them were, they were in civilian clothes.

"Hey cutie, why don't you cut this clown and come have fun with a real man?" he leered.

"A real man, huh?" Kirk said, winking at Uhura as the man came around the table to try and claim his prize. "The lady's not with me, she's waiting for someone else. I suggest you leave her alone." He leaned back in his chair insolently, leaving the drink on the table in front of him. Uhura watched him cross his arms over his chest and his eyes flick behind the menacing young man beside her.

"Who do you think you are, James T Kirk? You're coming with me!" he grabbed Uhura by the arm and started to haul her up before he crumpled to heap at her feet. A timely placed nerve pinch knocking him out.

Jim nodded to Spock as he rose to his feet, "As a matter of fact, I am, not that you're in shape to appreciate it. I may be many things, including a ladies man. I DO love the ladies, but, I'm not poacher. I respect relationships." Spock took his place, nodding his head in thanks. Kirk took out his communicator, "Kirk to Pike."

Other cadets heard the Admiral's voice crackle over the communicator, "Yes, Jim, what did you do this time?"

"Me? I did nothing. One of your cadets forcibly tried to pick up Uhura before finding himself on the floor, victim to Uhura's date. You might want to send someone to collect him, and his friends." Jim's eyes roamed the remaining cadets at the bar, they promptly fled. "Never mind, just him, the rest left. I think I'll go to bed."

"Someone's on their way, Jim. You don't have napkins stuffed up your nose, again, do you?"

Spock replied to that, "No, Admiral, the only casualty was your cadet, and he's just out cold."

The sigh was audible, "At least he's not dead. Have a good night everyone."

Uhura watched Kirk saunter out, throwing the bartender money before leaving. She also nodded the petite blonde admiring the Captain as he left. Carol Marcus had definite possibilities. Uhura was not above matchmaking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Uhura stopped the turbolift on the way to the bridge. She sank to the floor sobbing. Now, there would never be a chance. The cry ripped from Spock's throat promised mayhem for Khan whenever Spock caught up with him. The hours that followed were a blur. All she remembered was running down to stop Spock from killing Khan.

Several days after Jim was transported to Earth Uhura went down leaving Spock on the Enterprise. He understood. She entered the room as McCoy was injecting Jim with yet another drug to combat the rejection that Kirk's body was trying to perform. "I don't know if he can hear you, hell, I don't know if he's still in there, but I encourage everyone who's come to see him to talk to him."

Uhura took a chair next to his bed and laid a hand on his forehead. It was the only part she could reached that didn't seem to be covered by some monitor. "Thank you Jim. For everything you are and what you stand for. I know that I'll always be safe with you. Come back to us, Jim. I'll get Spock to call you Jim yet, you'll see." For a fleeting moment, Uhura could have sworn she saw a smile cross his lips. She stayed and read to him. Jim was a bibliophile, and preferred the real book to an electronic copy. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…" The next day, Spock informed her that Kirk had finally responded to the treatments, that he would live. Uhura smiled, their friend would live.

**Any true Trekkie should recognize the above reference and tell me which book, which Star Trek movie, and who gave it to whom. **


End file.
